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Different Shutter Lags for Different Cameras

Shutter lag is the delay on cameras from when a photographer presses the shutter-release button to when the photo is taken. The concept is further complicated by two-stage shutter releases, where pressing the button down halfway (first-stage) focuses the camera and pressing it all the way down (second-stage) releases the shutter.

Shutter lag generally changes from camera to camera. Typically, the more expensive cameras have shorter shutter lags than their less expensive peers. High-end cameras for professionals may not have a noticeable shutter lag at all. For most camera users it helps to know and remember what the shutter lag is for each camera, so that, during operation, the shutter lag can be compensated effectively.

I learnt a lesson several years ago while attending a Shelby open track event at the Streets of Willow race track. While I was off the track, I shot pictures of fellow racers and their cars. At this track event, I had brought a Canon EOS Rebel X, instead of my Canon EOS Elan IIe. (Why did I bring a lower-end camera? See my "Virtues of Cheap Equipment" article.)

I had been so used to the shutter lag on my primary camera, the Elan IIe, that I forgot the shutter lag on the Rebel X camera is a lot slower than the Elan IIe. This effect is demonstrated in the picture above. The front section of the red Audi TT is cut off due to the fact that I was using the shutter lag timing from my Elan IIe body. In other words, I pre-focused the lens to the distance you see in the image frame. I know that the vehicle is going to pass through that frame. And since all camera bodies have a certain shutter lag, I have to release the shutter before the vehicle enters the frame in order to capture the vehicle in the frame. Lesson learnt here is to remember the different shutter lags on different cameras and compensate for them when switching between cameras.

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Lag Specification

The following chart shows lag specification for various cameras based on manufacturer specifications, or published sources with reliable credential. Reliable credential source: a source that publishes results closely matched to manufacturer specifications historically, without large deviation from manufacturer results.

You may edit this table to update it with cameras that you know about. Please follow the same policy as the previous paragraph. Before editing, see "Spam Control" below for rules of editing and revision recovery.

* When full pressure is applied to partially depressed shutter button (pre-focused), or during manual focus mode.
** Shutter button is fully depressed from standing position.
*** My correction based on information from the source, see notes.

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Related Links

• Beating the Shutter Lag
• Camera Compatibility - Includes a list of cameras and their shutter lags.
• Lag correction circuit eliminates shutter lag variation in D1-series cameras

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